When everything seems grim, figure out your roots

"The Vision of The Valley of The Dry Bones"
by Gustave Doré

You may be familiar with the popular spiritual, "Dem Bones". It's inspired by Ezekiel 37 and talks about dry bones coming to life. I've read the story before, and our choir sang the song in Jr High, but there are some things I learned when reading Newbigin's "A Walk Through the Bible" related to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel, a major prophet of the Old Testament lived at the same time as another major prophet, Jeremiah; Jeremiah lived in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel was with the portion of the Israelites that were captive in Babylon. Life looked pretty grim; they were in captivity, they were taking on some of the behaviors of their captors, and they didn't have hope; they'd been deserted, it seemed. They were "dead bones". And yet, a group of the faithful used the grim time to figure out where they'd come from. They dug through old records and created a vision for people to understand the covenant they had with God. "During these years of exile Jewish scribes and teachers brought together the ancient records of earlier days of the Exodus and of the judges and kings, and wrote those marvelous passages about the creation of the world" (Newbigin, pg38). By helping God's people understanding where they'd come from, and Who they'd come from, Ezekiel and the other teachers were able to lead the Israelites toward hope. Eventually, they renewed their covenant. The dry bones came alive again!

Some things in our culture seem pretty grim. Some things in the church seem pretty grim too. If the church were being more effective in the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ, I imagine our culture would be in better shape. It would be wise for all of us to look back at our collective history, see where we've been, and then have vision for where to go. We can be assured that we haven't been deserted. We have hope!

It's helpful too, as individuals to pause when life seems grim and remember our shorter history with God. How has God been with you in the past? What do you know about God based on your shared history? I trust that will also give you hope!

*Edited because I feel convicted to add this: When you take time to consider what your history has been with God, both individually and collectively, also be intentional about looking at your sin. Examine what you've done wrong, what you are doing currently that you shouldn't, and repent. Turn away from your sin. Quit it. Ask [and you shall receive] forgiveness.